Behind the Coverage: Meet Our Claims Team Leaders

As we announced in the January 2025 issue of The Agent’s Advocate, this year we are giving you an inside view of the experience and capabilities of the teams that work tirelessly behind the scenes to provide your clients with superior coverage and services.

For this issue, we would like for you to get to know more about our best-in-class Claims team leaders.

The Doctors Company is well-known throughout the industry for our dedication to providing the best imaginable service to our members—your clients. With the industry’s largest claims database, we have an unparalleled understanding of lawsuits against healthcare providers. Nearly a quarter of our professional staff at The Doctors Company provide claims services to our members, and it is by no way a stretch to say that they deliver one of the most critical, if not the most critical, service of all. When our members’ livelihood, reputation, and ability to practice good medicine are at stake, it is the vital work of The Doctors Company’s Claims team to protect them with the industry’s strongest malpractice claims defense.

Our members agree, which is clear year after year through their responses to our Member Experience Surveys. In 2024, 93 percent of our members agreed that The Doctors Company provides them with relentless, aggressive defense.

What’s more, we learned through last year’s survey that The Doctors Company has a Net Promoter Score (NPS)—or score that measures customer loyalty by looking at customers’ likelihood of recommending us to their peers—of 78. This rating is among the top customer loyalty scores in the U.S. and is significantly higher than such reputable brands as Apple, Costco, and USAA. And through surveying the physicians we have defended from malpractice allegations, we found that among that group, The Doctors Company’s NPS score rises even more to 91—a top-notch score that indicates extremely high member satisfaction with our Claims team’s work on their behalf to protect their reputations.

These incredible rankings would not be possible without the superhuman of efforts our Claims team, so allow us to introduce you to our Claims team leaders.

Claims National Senior Vice President

J. Michael Meyer is Senior Vice President of the Claims function for The Doctors Company. Michael has been in claims for over 40 years and started his professional liability career working in Chicago, Illinois. He began handling claims in 1984, and specifically medical malpractice claims in 1986.

Prior to joining The Doctors Company in 2018, Michael worked for a physician-owned malpractice insurance carrier for almost 18 years as Vice President of Claims in the Southeast, providing Claims leadership and strategic direction for multiple healthcare lines of business, including physicians and hospitals. He also worked at a hospital-based insurance company, where he managed physician and hospital claims primarily in the eastern United States.

He earned his bachelor of science degree in finance at Northern Illinois University, and he has multiple claims licenses.

Michael is an accomplished insurance industry leader with proven skills managing claims and claims operations while focusing on successful outcomes.

Claims Regional Vice Presidents

Region I

Mark Savoie is a Vice President for The Doctors Company Region I, where he leads a team of Claims professionals. For the past 27 years at The Doctors Company, Mark has been living the mission statement of protecting doctors. His knowledge and experience in medical malpractice litigation in Southern California in both state and federal court helps members of The Doctors Company achieve the best possible outcomes for their cases. 

Mark is on the California Medical Association Amicus Committee and oversees all the cases on appeal for Region I. Prior to joining The Doctors Company, he worked for two other medical malpractice insurance companies in Southern California starting in 1992. Mark earned a bachelor’s degree in biology from Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri, in 1990.

Todd Virkus is a Vice President for Claims in The Doctors Company’s Region I. He began his insurance career in 1993. Since that time, Todd has worked in Claims, Underwriting, Marketing, and Sales. 

Todd has lectured on the subject of litigation education at the American Society of Plastic Surgeons® Annual Conference and other forums. He also co-authored a chapter in the publication The Business of Plastic Surgery, 2nd Edition, 2020. With his extensive claim’s expertise, Todd assists The Doctors Company to achieve its objective of vigorously supporting and defending physicians and other healthcare professionals through all phases of the litigation process.

Todd earned a bachelor’s degree in public management at San Diego State University. 

Region II

Brittnie Hayes, JD, is the Vice President of Claims for Region II at The Doctors Company. Brittnie is honored to help lead Region II Claims professionals and is committed to The Doctors Company’s values of reducing risk, improving healthcare, and protecting healthcare practitioners. Brittnie began her career in the courtroom, defending practitioners and healthcare entities in medical malpractice claims. She later transitioned into the insurance sector, where she has spent over a decade successfully leading Claims teams.

As a former trial lawyer defending doctors in the courtroom, Brittnie brings a valuable perspective to litigation management and strategies for successful claims management and outcomes. She brings her hands-on experience to analyzing data, analytics, and team performance, dedicated to supporting processes that work and implementing change when needed.

Brittnie holds a bachelor's degree from Nebraska Wesleyan University and a juris doctor from Creighton University.

Region III

Mike Tamucci is the Vice President of Claims in Region III for The Doctors Company. Mike oversees the states of Florida, Texas, Georgia, South Carolina, Alabama, Tennessee, Mississippi, Oklahoma, and Louisiana. He has worked in Claims for 39 years, and specifically medical malpractice for 37 of those years.

Mike began his medical malpractice career with a physician-owned company in Birmingham, Alabama. He worked for a physician-owned company in Atlanta, Georgia, for 26 years, ascending to the position of Vice President of Claims. He then worked for a third-party administrator based out of Orlando, Florida, and another physician-owned company located in Raleigh, North Carolina, before joining The Doctors Company in 2019.

Mike and his team work tirelessly and with great passion to get the best results possible for each member of The Doctors Company. Mike uses his background and years of experience to provide extensive insight and knowledge to help defend and protect the practice of good medicine.

Mike earned his bachelor of arts degree and minored in journalism at the University of Montevallo in Alabama.

Key Claims Successes in 2024

• Over a five-year period since 2019 and culminating in 2024, the total number of claims against our members has been reduced by 19 percent—an incredible feat that speaks to our claims prevention efforts for your clients.
• The Doctors Company defended our members in 195 claims cases that were brought to trial in 2024 and won 88 percent of them.
• The total number of claims closed without indemnity paid increased to 77 percent in 2024, which is up from 73 percent the prior year.
• The average cost to close a claim dropped by $28,000 in 2024. In 2023, it was $150,000, and the cost lowered to an average of $122,000 this past year.

What Happens If Your Client Is Notified of a Claim?

Most healthcare professionals will face at least one claim in their career, so it’s not a matter of if your client will get sued, but when. From the moment they have been officially served legal documents, like a summons or complaint, the lawsuit has commenced. It is critical for them to report any claim—or potential claim—to The Doctors Company immediately.

From there, we assign a claims specialist to handle the claim, contact the member within 24 hours of that assignment, and have a local defense attorney(ies) designated for representation. At this point, our team of seasoned member advocates will be there by your client’s side to support them throughout the litigation process.

The key to winning is preparation—and we take every opportunity to seize an advantage, which means preparing your client to be a strong, active participant in their own defense. Our experts can guide your client through legal jargon, deposition engagements, arguments, verdicts, and ways to cope with and manage the stress caused by being involved in malpractice litigation.

If needed, our national experts are brought in to collaborate with the region and hold roundtable talks, attend strategy sessions, and provide broader review and input on the case from a national perspective. This includes a team of national strategic consultants who are assigned to all high-exposure and complex cases. Each expert averages more than 30 years of claims experience.

So, bottom line, whether the claim is strictly regional, or regional with national implications, we’ve got your clients covered. Our claims philosophy at The Doctors Company is to do the right thing for our members, at the right time, and prepare your clients so that when they have no other choice but to enter a courtroom, they are ready to fight and win.

The Doctors Company has a series of videos to explain what healthcare practitioners need to know about litigation; and of course, if your client notifies you of an incident occurred that may lead to a claim or if a claim has already been made against them, please advise them to report the claim or incident immediately. We also have a regional Claims map available for your and your clients’ reference.